Around the Mountains from the Summit daily news

Around the Mountains: Park City plants seeds for diversity

BY ALLEN BEST
summit daily news
November 12, 2006

PARK CITY, Utah - Park City's government continues to plants seeds in an effort to diversify its economy from its tourism and real estate moorings. The latest such seed is a $10,000 grant being given to the Oquirrh Institute, a think tank that takes on issues of interest to state governments.

The plan is for the Oquirrh Institute to relocate from nearby Salt Lake City, open an office, and then hold conventions twice a year. Next year, for example, a conference about oil shale is planned. Organizers project an attendance by 200 people, with an injection of $80,000 into Park City's economy.

The leader of this institute is Jim Souby, who was executive director of the Western Governors' Association for 13 years, reports the Park City Record.

Whistler hopes to get authority to cut trees

WHISTLER, B.C. - Whistler municipal officials may have a larger hand in managing the adjoining forests by next year. The forests belong to the provincial governments, but the municipality is applying to manage the forests under the Community Forest Program.

Officials believe there is enough wood in the forests to fill approximately 200 logging trucks, reports Pique. However, while the city may make some money, the greater benefit is that it will have a larger say in ensuring that aesthetics, recreation and tourism are taken into account in the management decisions.

Steamboat booking shoot past last year

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS - Bookings for ski vacations continue to be well ahead of last year's pace in Steamboat Springs.

Bob Milne, whose company manages 875 units, reports phone call volume of 30 percent and bookings of 20 percent ahead of last year. He tells the Steamboat Pilot & Today that a 10 percent increase over last year will be realistic when all is said and done. Milne also reports an increase in visitor days, up to 5.7 days per visit, compared to 5.5 days last year.

His report jibes with others from elsewhere in Steamboat Springs, which had uncommonly good snow early last year. Both trends - earlier bookings and longer stays - are also in sync with what is being reported elsewhere in the ski industry this year in Colorado, and the travel industry even more generally.

Steamboat also is benefiting from an expanded program of direct flights that was announced last spring. The number of booked passengers is up 7.8 percent compared to last year, and 20 percent ahead of two years ago.

Winter Park and Fraser sharing courts, more?

WINTER PARK-FRASER - The towns of Fraser and Winter Park, which are located cheek by jowl, continue to explore how they might become more like one. So far, the courtship amounts to little more than a peck on the cheek.

This year the two began sharing basic court functions. Two judges can remain, but the idea is to have two court operations that are not significantly different. Another intergovernmental agreement is being prepared that will combine building departments.

Three scenarios are being explored: additional sharing, Fraser joining Winter Park, or complete unification of the two towns. In addition, there's the do-nothing option.

Fraser is the older of the twin towns. It was created in 1904, when railroad tracks from Denver arrived, although not formally incorporated until 1953. Winter Park was first a railroad camp called West Portal, and in time Hideaway Park, after the ski area was created in 1938. It was incorporated in 1978.

'Biggie-size' is no longer home mantra

PARK CITY, Utah - The 1990s were the decade of "Biggie-size" applied to everything from French fries to homes. Now, that trend is ebbing.

"People were going bigger, bigger, bigger," says Scott Jaffa of Jaffa Group Architects in Park City. "Now I see a trend where they want to go smaller and more efficient."

Another Park City architect agrees. "The mega-home is going to become more rare, but people are still going to spend on what they consider quality items," says Bill Mammen.

Both architects detect a stronger demand for "green building," in which homes reduce their needs for energy, water and other resources.

"One of the trends I see now is more clients are asking for green building materials and tankless water heaters," Jaffa told The Park Record. "We are retrofitting a client's heated driveway with a solar hot-water system versus using a boiler."

Mammen said he has been trying to improve operating efficiencies of homes in Park City since he arrived in 1978. "In the '90s, people didn't care at all," he said. "Now people are asking for it."

Added Jaffa, "Whether you believe in global warming or not, we need to conserve. We just can't keep throwing away everything."

Jackson joins climate protection agreement

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. - Add the Town of Jackson to the list of municipalities that have committed to taking action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Like Frisco, Park City, and several other mountain towns in the west, Jackson is joining the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Initiative.

The town, in the words of public information officer Shelley Simonton, has been "dribble-drabbling along" in efforts to become more energy efficient. It has, for example, converted to the more efficient compact-fluorescent light bulbs, even if they cost more money up front.

But town officials were energized to do more after attending a conference in Aspen devoted to global warming. Jackson Mayor Mark Barron says what he heard in Aspen convinced him that Jackson is on the right course in trying to densify the existing town footprint, curbing rural sprawl.

One of the first steps in its commitment to the mayors' pact will be to create an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions. The goal is to reduce emissions below the 1990 baseline.

Mayors who sign the agreement commit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their own cities and communities to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012 through actions like increasing energy efficiency, reducing vehicle miles traveled, maintaining healthy urban forests, reducing sprawl and promoting use of clean, renewable energy resources. The agreement also calls for Congress to pass legislation that sets meaningful timelines and limits on emissions through a flexible, market-based system of tradable allowances among emitting industries.